KALIBO, Aklan: The island of Boracay generated a total of P31.77 billion in tourism receipts for the first seven months of this year. Aklan Provincial Tourism Office (APTO) records showed that of the total tourism receipts, P22.154 billion came from forei.....»»

After a video was uploaded on the fatal road rage incident in Quiapo went viral on social media, where Nestor Punzalan was falsely accused as the owner of the car showed on the video which Top Gear posted, Top Gear earned ire comments from netizens on soc.....»»

Two young Frenchmen, working for Rocket Internet SE of Germany, are shaking the Philippine accommodation industry, offering budget hotel rooms in premium locations such as Manila, Cebu and Boracay for as low as P850 a night......»»

em>By Tom Withers, Associated Press /em>
CLEVELAND (AP) — Kyrie Irving spent a day dedicated to transition and big speeches by delivering a message from the heart.
Cleveland's All-Star point guard, whose own life has undergone major changes over the past year or so because of fatherhood, an Olympic gold medal and NBA championship, spoke to hundreds of school kids on Friday (Saturday, PHL time) about following their dreams.
To kick off a program promoting physical fitness, Irving shared some wisdom and experiences he hopes will help motivate kids to reach their potential. He urged them to listen to their parents, follow their own path and reminded them that life's journey never ends.
'I'm still figuring it out,' he said. 'I'm still you.'
Teaming with Kids Foot Locker, Irving visited one of the city's Boys & Girls Clubs to launch a six-week fitness challenge which promotes a healthy lifestyle and encourages kids to excel outside and inside the classroom.
Not far removed from their age group, the 24-year-old Irving easily connected with the kids, who wore 'Go Big' T-shirts and could barely contain their excitement when the Cavaliers' star was introduced and walked to the middle of the basketball court.
'Listen to your parents,' Irving told them, but not in a preachy way, rather the way an older brother would tell his siblings. 'Make sure you cherish the friendships you have and family is first — always.'
Before the event, Irving, who was named an All-Star starter for the Eastern Conference on Thursday (Friday, PHL time), spent a few minutes with the Associated Press discussing the motivation to support his community and aspirations beyond basketball.
Irving understands both his place and platform and wants to maximize it. And as the nation looked toward Washington, D.C., Irving simply wanted to make a positive impact on some kinds in Cleveland.
'I want to be a generational leader and I am that already,' he told AP. 'I have to accept that and to do that you have to acquire as much knowledge and still grow every single day, make sure I'm living the truth and share that with the rest of the world. It's not necessarily opening up to the media or anyone else, but it's about opening up to the kids that matter — that are going to be changing our world in a few years.
'I'm OK with this, man. As long as I can shape a kid's day or shape a kid's life in any way possible, and help them realize their potential is endless, you are limitless. You can be your own decider in your life. Whatever else is going on, you have to take control of it.'
Irving was raised almost exclusively by his father, Drederick, after his mother, Elizabeth, died when he was four. The elder Irving didn't have to push his child, who was driven from an early age.
It's that independence, the strength to be unafraid and willingness to fail but learn, that's at the heart of Irving's message.
'I want them to think bigger,' he said. 'It's a lost simpler for me now as I've gotten older. There were things that I thought were going to stop me and limit me, but those things aren't necessarily real, they're false and created by whatever it is that tells us what we can't do, the outside influences. Never listen to that, man. I've always figured it out one day at a time.
'As long as you can see through it, and find your own truth, you'll be fine. I try to give kids the truth. I still am that kid that was growing up in Boys & Girls Clubs in New York and New Jersey, going to different neighborhoods. I'm that same kid. I've never changed and being able to acquire the knowledge that I have from other people helps me — and hopefully resonates with the kids.' .....»»

It took nine games but it happened, Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel finally took its first winning streak of the new PBA season.
The Gin Kings won back-to-back games for the first time in the 2017 Philippine Cup after stopping Blackwater Friday, 99-90, at the Cuneta Astrodome.
With the Elite erasing a 15-point lead to tie things upo at 82-all early in the fourth quarter, Ginebra displayed some championship composure and responded with an 11-2 run to re-establish control, 93-84, with less than five minutes to go.
It was then cruise control for the Gin Kings to wrap up their fifth win against four defeats, forcing a four-team tie for the 3rd-6th spots in the standings.
Blackwater dropped to solo seventh with an even 5-5 card.
'They [Blackwater] just kept hanging in there, they even came back and tied it up,' head coach Tim Cone said.
'I just felt tonight we had more depth than them, especialy after Japeth went out. Dave stepped in, played well, Jervy stepped in and played well. We just had more depth than them and I think that's the difference,' he added.
With Japeth Aguilar going down in the first half following a bad fall off a dunk, it took a collective team effort from the Ginebra frontline to make up for his absence.
Jervy Cruz came off the bench to lead the Gin Kings in scoring while Dave Marcelo and Joe Devance combined to score 26. LA Tenorio dropped 15 while Scottie Thompson was Scottie Thompson, posting a near triple-double with 13 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists.
Aguilar himself scored 14 points in just 14 and a half minutes of play. He did not return in the second half.
For the second straight game, Roi Sumang starred for the Elite as the former UE Red Warrior came away with 20 points on a reserve role while Mac Belo and Raymond Aguilar chipped in 16 apiece for Blackwater.
The scores:
GINEBRA 99 - Cruz 16, Tenorio 15, Aguilar 14, Thompson 13, Devance 13, Marcelo 13, Ellis 6, Mercado 5, Ferrer 2, Caguioa 2, Taha 0.
BALCKWATER 90 - Sumang 20, Belo 16, Aguilar 16, Sena 14, Dela Cruz 7, Gamalinda 6, Miranda 5, Buenafe 4, Pascual 2, Ababou 0, Pinto 0.
Quarterscores: 25-23, 53-40, 80-71, 99-90
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Follow this writer on Twitter, @paullintag8 .....»»

MAURICIO SAVARESE, AP Sports Writer
CHAPECO, Brazil (AP) — Silence and mourning are slowly being replaced by boisterous fans and hope.
As the Chapecoense club rebuilds after the air crash that killed 19 players and nearly all members of the staff and board of directors, so is the town of 200,000. Like many in Brazil, football is the oxygen for everything: gossip, community pride and heated debate.
On Saturday, Chapecoense's 20,000-capacity Arena Conda will host the team's first match since the tragedy almost two months ago. Lines outside are filled with fans excited about the club's and the city's restart. Fifty coffins lined the same field in November, where this time Chape's reconstructed team will play Brazilian champion Palmeiras in a friendly match.
'I bet I won't be able to sleep Friday night,' 19-year-old fan Marcelo Ribeiro said as he walked to the stadium. 'Since the accident the city is dead. The festivities were mostly canceled at the end of the year, and all most people are thinking about is the rebirth. I want to see what the rebirth looks like.'
At the Hotel Bertaso, where most of Chape's players and coaching staff have traditionally lodged, the first signs of that rebirth are obvious. The second floor, which was home to many of the victims, including coach Caio Junior, is once again full.
'I can't help feeling a lot of hope for the future now,' said receptionist Gelson Mangone, who lost several friends in that crash on an Andean mountain side near Medellin, Colombia, on Nov.28.
'It has been a lot of work to settle all these new signings here, they are also learning their way here,' the receptionist said. 'But it does feel like a brand new start.'
New coach Vagner Mancini is one of the hotel's new residents. He said the job makes him 'a better human being, but it's the most challenging to face.'
'We have to build a team, a coaching staff and a club infrastructure in a season in which Chape will be in demand,' Mancini told The Associated Press.
'I understand now that the city was so affected because the club and the city are run like a family,' he added. 'The players we brought are cut from that cloth, but we have to reach a higher level now.'
After the crash, Colombian club Atletico Nacional, which was to face Chape in the Copa Sudamericana final in Medellin, awarded the victory to the small Brazilian team.
That means that Chape qualified for South America's No. 1 tournament for the first time, the competitive Copa Libertadores. The team will also try to defend its title in the Santa Catarina state championship, try to stay up in Brazil's top-flight competition, and play in a pile of fundraisers, including one against Barcelona.
'We have to assemble a competitive team at the same time we need to hire someone to handle passports, contracts,' Mancini said. 'The club used to handle this well, but like a family run business. Now we are at a different moment.'
Chapecoense had almost nothing left after the crash: six players that did not travel on the ill-fated flight, two physiotherapists, one goalkeeping coach, one doctor, one data analyst, one nurse and a few club officials.
New chairman and club co-founder Plinio David de Nes Filho, a wealthy local businessman known as Maninho, is leading the charge to bolster club finances. Former players like Nivaldo Constante, who played as a goalkeeper until the tragedy struck, are approaching players that can help. And Chapeco Mayor Luciano Buligon is working as a kind of ambassador for the club and the city.
'Our weekends were about three things: family, church and Chapecoense,' Buligon said. 'It has been hard to get the city back on track because the wounds are still very open. But we are slowly moving on. On Saturday we will start getting a part of our weekends back.'
Not everyone is happy.
Rosangela Loureiro, widow of crash victim Cleber Santana, said she is upset because his belongings still have not been returned to the family.
'I feel sadness and rage. No one is doing anything to bring their belongings back. I plead with them to soften our pain and make us get the memories that we will hold dear for the rest of our lives,' she said on Instagram last week.
Other widows have complained about damages not yet being paid by the club. Chapecoense directors say they are doing the best they can as they try to rebuild.
There are even complaints at the joyous Hotel Bertaso.
'These new players love to make a mess in their rooms,' said a cleaner, who declined to offer her name. 'The other ones were older, more mature and the new ones seem to be more infantile. I hope they are up for the task. The city really needs that now.' .....»»

NEW YORK (AP) -- John Wall had 29 points and 13 assists, scoring Washington's final four points in the last 32 seconds as the surging Wizards beat the New York Knicks 113-110 on Thursday night (Friday, PHL time).
Otto Porter Jr. made six three-pointers for the second straight night and added 23 points, but the Wizards needed big plays from Wall down the stretch to win their fourth in a row.
He made two free throws to put Washington back on top after New York had rallied to take a 110-109 lead, then rebounded Carmelo Anthony's miss and left all the Knicks in his dust as he raced down the floor for a dunk with 13.7 seconds to play.
Anthony finished with 34 points but Wall stole the ball from Brandon Jennings to prevent the Knicks from attempting a three-pointer that could have tied it. .....»»